


Awakening

by sunaddicted



Series: Superbat October Drabbles [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bickering, Emotionally Repressed, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 08:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16155815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: Superman huffed "Don't make it sound that way""What way?""Stalkerish"Bruce raised an eyebrow "If the shoe fits"





	Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: capes

_Awakening_

Bruce slowly blinked himself awake, frowning as he carefully took in his surroundings: he rubbed the pads of his fingers on the sheets, feeling the high quality, and looked around himself to try and understand where he was; the monitors and the IV stuck in his arm were clear clues, just as the faint chattering of the bats and the noise of someone's feet landing squarely on a training mat were.

He grunted and pushed himself up in a sitting position, arms trembling under his own weight. Hadn't he been under the influence of various drugs that were stopping the pain frim assaulting him, Bruce would have been able to say whoever it was that was training in the Cave just from the sound that their feet were making - afterall, he had been the one to train his children and he knew them very well.

"Down"

Bruce looked up at the sudden voice - he hadn't seen anyone during his first sweep, but he was going to forgive himself for once "Clark?"

"Good, you recognise me"

"Of course I recognise you"

Clark rolled his eyes and floated down - that must have meant that Superman hadn't been in his immediate vicinity, which reassured Bruce even more about the fact that he hadn't seen the other man - to the edge of the bed, sitting close enough to swipe a thumb over his temple "It wasn't such a given, considered the hit you took" he relied, fingering the bandage that Alfred had rolled around Bruce's head with an ease that made Clark twitch with discomfort: it screamed about just how often the old man had been forced to take care of Bruce - about how often the Batman had gotten injured.

"What happened?" Bruce inquired, reaching up to feel the cotton "I..." He squinted at Clark, an hint of a glare swimming in the depths of his blue eyes "You weren't supposed to be in Gotham"

"I wasn't"

"Don't lie to me"

Clark shook his head firmly "I wasn't"

"You wouldn't be here if you hadn't been the one to bring me back home" safe and sound - Bruce didn't really like thinking about needing help so, he flicked the thought to the back of his mind.

Along with all the warm feelings that the knowledge of Clark saving him brought to the surface - feelings that he didn't want to deal with, that he didn't want to unearth, that he didn't need to listen to or he would spend hours watching the other man, pining and wishing that he would be enough for someone like Superman.

Clark sighed "I was listening to your heartbeat"

"You were doing what?" Was that a blush that Bruce could see rising on the other's cheeks?

"You heard me"

Of course he had, but Bruce wasn't above using the excuse that he was injured to make the other man repeat himself "You mean that you were spying on me?"

Superman huffed "Don't make it sound that way"

"What way?"

"Stalkerish"

Bruce raised an eyebrow "If the shoe fits"

The blush on Clark's cheeks became darker - almost painful, if the other man had been human "I just... like it!"

"Stalking me?"

"No! The sound of your heart!"

Silence fell.

Bruce looked down and frowned at the sight of a bright red cape entwined with the sheets, clearly left to cover him to soothe him thanks to the familiar scent trapped in its fibers - it was a tiny detail but it made Bruce feel even more vulnerable than the fact that he had been rescued during patrolling or the fact that he was literally laying in his sick bed, attached to various machines that kept his vitals under strict scrutiny.

Seeing Bruce purse his lips in a clear expression of displeasure, it made Clark squirm a little: only the intensity of the other's gaze had ever managed to make him feel small - he'd fought gods and tyrannical conquerors from far away worlds, but none of them had ever made him feel like Bruce did.

Squirmy.

Scolded.

 _Besotted_.

He was so in love that it wasn't even funny and the worse thing? Everyone knew and they all teased Clark about it - or gave him the oh-so-very helpful advice of giving Bruce up because Batman just didn't do love.

Somehow, it was even worse when Bruce's own children were the ones to say so: it made Clark wonder about whether they truly believed their father incapable of love or whether they had a deeper knowledge of the man and were just trying to help him out.

But that couldn't be, could it?

Clark knew the other man, he had seen him in the intimate moments when he wasn't hiding behind the cowl: he had seen Bruce without the weight of the Mission and the chain of billionaire Brucie - when he was just himself, momentarily free of any obligations and worries.

Bruce tilted his head to the side, ignoring the way his sight swam a little: clearly, he was recovering from a concussion "Why?"

"It's soothing" Clark shrugged "You're heartbeat is very steady and focusing on one sound makes it easier to drown out the others" and yes, maybe he could have listened to anyone else's - his mother's, Lois', Diana's - but he had gotten used to the other man's and if there was a sound that Clark could pick out in any situation, it was Bruce's steady heartbeat.

"If you say so"

"Uh.. I'll go"

Bruce bunched up the crimson cape "Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Your cape"

Clark shook his head "Keep it" he said firmly and before Bruce could get another word in, the Kryptonian flew away: he liked the idea of the other man being surrounded by his scent and his familiar warmth.

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Fall](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16190681) by [sunaddicted](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted)




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